Cash in the Attic
by DorestadGirl
Summary: In the attic, the young Weasley girl does a strange discovery.


She loved the burrow. In no other place she knew she could have the same feeling of belonging as in the house of her ancestors. She had no idea how many generations had preceded her but she knew it had to be a lot.

Though she loved the garden, the quidditch practice field, the kitchen, living room and the small library, no room could compare to the attic. Growing up as the youngest sister to a lot of older brothers, the attic had become her save haven, where she could hide and get some peace. Since she was small for her age, it was easy for her to manoeuvre around boxes and old, often broken, furniture to little clearings, which her brothers would have a hard time reaching.

Even when the last of her brothers had left for Hogwarts, next year it would finally be her turn, and she didn't have to hide from them, she still liked it up there; scanning and scavenging the boxes, in search of hidden treasure. It was on one of such afternoons when she found a large chest, filled with what seemed to be a lot of old Hogwarts attributes. She had great fun trying on the school robes, which actually almost fit, and looking through the old schoolbooks when she stumbled upon a paper box, filled with pictures.

She took the box with her to her favourite spot, a small clearing with an old leather couch, she guessed it had once been green, a rug that felt like real grass and a slightly crooked table with a oil lantern on top of it.

She wrapped her red hair in a bun and installed herself on the couch. With a cup of tea and some slices banana chocolate cake within hand reach on the table next to her, she flipped through the pictures. They were of course moving, but she guessed they could be very old, maybe up to seventy year, judging by the clothes they were wearing. Instantly she recognised her family, only in her own family photo albums could you encounter so many redheaded people. And they all looked so much alike as well! She guessed there was at least one pair of twins amongst them. The two boys were identical. When she had examined the last picture, it was supposedly a Christmas celebration, everybody was wearing the same knitted jumper as they did nowadays, she noticed there was something else in the box, flattened on the bottom was a small velvet red bag.

Curiously she took the bag out of the box and opened it, a note fell to the ground, it was quite small, folded and had "_To Ginevra" _written on its back. She unfolded the note and turned it over a couple of times, who starts his letter without a greeting? Hunched at the lantern she started reading.

_When you receive this message I'll be long gone. I gave specific orders to the __owl not to deliver it to you until I was far away from the country. There is no need for you to try to follow me, you know I'm a master at hiding my tracks. I slightly regret having to leave you so sudden like this, but it is for your own safety and I'd do it again without thinking twice. _

_Y__ou have helped me a great deal. Even though I didn't always need your help, you've been there for me when I needed someone. Without you and your kind actions, that day and the month after, I wouldn't be alive today. _

_Please accept the necklace as a token of my gratitude. It is of no more use to me__ since you broke the spell and you might be able to cash it in for a few galleons. I know your family could use the extra money, you'd be able to get rid of those horrible second hand clothes they make you wear and buy yourself something decent. _

_I'm quite certain__ that, when they start searching for me, nobody will think of you. But if they do happen to appear on your doorstep, you know what to say, we've practiced this. I also forbid you to tell anybody about yesterday's _[a couple of words had been crossed out] _accident. That couldn't have happened and as far as I'm concerned it didn't. _

_I don't think we will ever meet again__. _[More words had been crossed out. She bent over the note and was so intent on deciphering it, that her nose almost touched the paper. "_Just, don't marry the scarhead." w_as the best she could make of it, but that just didn't make sense]

_Enjoy the rest of your life._

_D._

She turned the note over again. "_To Ginevra_" was all that was written on this side. But she felt like there was more to be said. This couldn't be the end of the story, there had to be more! Slowly she trailed the letters of the name with her finger, Ginevra had to be her grandmother, she had heard her mother call her Ginny a couple of times. But then who was this D. guy? It couldn't have been her grandfather, His name had been Harry, hadn't it? He had died a long time ago, a bad case of the dragon pox. And wasn't her grandfather supposed to be a nice person? This 'D' obviously had no idea how to interact with a human being.

She refolded the note, determined to find somebody who could explain all this, but when she tried to put it back in the little bag she noticed it wasn't entirely empty as she had assumed it would be. There was definitely something else hidden inside of it. Her heartbeat sped up, could this be the necklace mentioned in the letter? Biting on her lip and holding her breath she managed to bring out a necklace with a large pendant hanging in the middle of the fine silver chain. Engraved on the pendant was some kind of family crest, with a large _"M"_ in the middle, two dragons to the side and some words in Latin underneath it. _"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper"_

She wondered what kind of family would want to have a crest like this; admittedly, the dragons were quite fierce and cool, but all together it was mostly gloomy and creepy.

oOo

Her grandmother was, as usual, asleep in the library, pretending to be reading a book. The girl tiptoed to her and carefully placed her hand on the older woman's shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

'Nanna' she whispered. 'it's time for you to wake up.'

While she awoke Ginny sighed something and padded around her chest to find the glasses which had fallen from her nose. She put them on and smiled when she recognised her granddaughter. 'Ah Jules, is it time for supper yet?'

'Not yet, nanna, I was hoping you could explain something to me.' Jules bit her under lip, not sure how to continue. 'I found something, you see, in the attic,' she expectantly glanced at her grandmother but there was no sign of recognition yet. 'a… necklace, and a note?'

'Ah' her grandmother nodded. 'the velvet bag. It's been ages since I've held it. Did you bring it down with you?' She disentangled her hands from her lap and stretched out her long white fingers towards the girl, who could do nothing but place the bag in her hand, though she would have liked to hold the items a little longer. There was a history attached to the bag, and it contents, that she didn't want to part with yet.

Reluctantly she handed it over and watched mesmerised at the white fingers caressing the red velvet. Apparently the old woman had no intension of opening the bag and Jules could feel her impatience growing. 'Aren't you going to open it?' she asked.

'In a minute, girl, don't act so agitated. At my age you are allowed to take your time remembering things. I had almost forgotten about this, locked it away in a small corner of my mind. Thank you for showing it to me, it brings back a lot of memories.' She dropped the bag on her lap and folded her hands on top of it. 'Now, if you'll be a good girl and wake me when it's time for supper, I'll be very thankful to you.'

Exercising all her strength of will not to stamp her foot like a little girl, Jules breathed in and counted to three, which was all she could manage before she burst out 'But Nanna! Can't you explain to me? Who is D.? Why was he so rude? What is this letter about anyway?'

Ginny was shaking slightly, it took Jules a couple of seconds to figure out the old woman was actually shaking with laughter. 'Quite the temper,' she giggled to herself. 'you remind me of myself, when I was a younger girl. I'll answer some of your questions and then I will have my afternoon nap. Now, what would you like to know first?' She opened the small bag and placed the contents on her lap.

'Just tell me…' Jules bit her lip, her eyes trailing over the items, what would she ask first? 'Tell me about this D. why did he write you the letter?'

Ginny smiled to herself and closed her eyes while she remembered 'D. would stand for Draco, a young boy I once knew. We went to Hogwarts together and he was about a year older than me. He was in your grandfather's year, they couldn't stand each other.'

'So why did he write to you? He said you helped him with something?'

Ginny brought her hand to her forehead as if shielding herself from something. 'You have to remember I grew up in the time when Voldemort, a powerfull dark wizard, terrorized the wizarding world. Our family fought on the good side, along with the order of the phoenix, but Draco's family fought on the other side. The dark lord had made him do terrible things and he had a hard time coping with what he had done.' Ginny shrugged 'I helped him sever the ties to his family so he could save himself. He left after that.'

Eying the items on her grandmother's lap, Jules bent over to pick up the pendant. 'It's a valuable gift, he left you. What does the writing on it means?'

'The 'M' stands for Malfoy, which was his surname.'

'And the Latin?'

Ginny shook her head 'Sorry Dear, I never bothered to find out.'

'But what about the accident he wrote about?'

Some life crept back in the face of her grandmother while she blushed. 'I'm not discussing this with you, sweetie, some things you're just too young to know about.'

Again, Jules had to repress the urge to stomp her foot. 'Too young!' She exclaimed. 'Do you mean you've kissed? Were you two in love?'

'Something like that my dear' Ginny chuckled.

'But then why did he leave?'

She shook her shoulders and looked like an old bird ruffling its feathers. 'It was a different time back then, there was a war going on. He didn't really have much of a choice. In order to survive he had to leave everything behind, even his own family. Besides,' a mischievoussparkle came to her eyes 'officially, I was still with your grandfather at the time, it couldn't have worked.'

'So he left you without saying goodbye? Leaving you only the note and necklace?' Jules shook her head 'That's just rude!'

'But so very Draco, I think I understand it better, now that I'm older. I was quite devastated when he left, I can tell you.' She patted Jules on her hand. 'Left me worried about him for months and weak on the inside for weeks. My mouth constantly fell like when you eat the core of a pineapple, dry, swollen and numb with a small tingling feeling whenever I thought of him. But I think I understand him now. I know he couldn't have taken me with him, and I did manage to get my happily ever after with your grandfather.'

Jules played with the locket in her hands. 'Nanna,' she asked 'Do you think he died?'

'I don't think he did, in fact, I'm quite sure I'd know it when he does.'

'So, do you still love him?'

She smiled 'Lets just say, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant. And we definitely add this to his pile of good things.'

She took the necklace from the young girl and put it in the breast pocket of her jacket, close to her heart.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** This is a response to a challenge initiated on the DG forum.

-relationship between Draco and Ginny revealed

-banana & pineapple present

-Doctor Who quote inserted

**Guidelines/Requirements:** A family heirloom that a runaway member of the Malfoy family took with him is discovered in the Burrow.

**Word Count**: A minimum of four hundred, max one chapter.

**Rating:** As high or low as you want. I'm not afraid.

**No no's**: War angst.

**Bonus points:**

If the discovery reveals a secret relationship between Ginny and Draco OR creates one.

If there is a banana or pineapple in every scene.

If there is a Doctor Who or Psych quote.

**Deadline: **Midnight Forum time, June 8th, 2011.


End file.
